Creative Staff:
Story: Tom King
Art: Mitch Gerads
Colors: Mitch Gerads
Letterer: Clayton Cowls
What They Say:
Scott Free is the greatest escape artist that ever lived. So great that he escaped Granny Goodness’ gruesome orphanage and the dangers of Apokolips to travel across galaxies and set up a new life on Earth with his wife, the former female fury known as Big Barda. Using the stage alter ego of Mister Miracle, he has made a career for himself showing off his acrobatic escape techniques. He even caught the attention of the Justice League, which counted him among its ranks.
You might say Scott Free has everything…so why isn’t it enough? Mister Miracle has mastered every illusion, achieved every stunt, pulled off every trick-except one. He has never escaped death. Is it even possible? Our hero is going to have to kill himself if he wants to find out.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
One thing to understand when it comes to anyone creative is that you’re not going to like everything they do. And that’s a good thing because it means they’re not doing just the same thing or working in safe spaces. Tom King won me over in a big way with the Omega Men series but I struggled and gave up on his Batman work. But the news of a new series from him, set at just twelve issues, and focusing on Scott Free? And with the incredible work from Mitch Gerads, who is doing some of his best work here? Well, that’s going to get me on board, especially as the first issue makes it clear that this is going to be quite the journey that’s intriguing in its parts and potentially amazing in its sum.
I’ve long liked the character of Scott Free and his wife Barda, being one of those that was a huge fan of the previous series from decades gone by – the first cover of which is masterfully inserted here as a meta way of showing Scott’s career as an escape artist over the years. The book works in a way that’ just a touch frustrating at first because it’s not going to give the easy foundation and setup pieces for the reader, but it will have many key things set by the end of it. Scott’s in a bad place and struggling in a lot of ways, both physically and mentally. Was it a battle? Was it a betrayal? Was it a trap that went wrong? When we learn that it was him attempting to the greatest escape feat of all in escaping death, that opens up a lot of possibilities right there.
And we do get what I believe is a fake out from nearly the start as you question whether any of this is real and it’s just Scott dealing with whatever it is from the trap itself, a dream of some sort. Scott knows things are wrong, there’s an intentional disjointed approach to aspects of what’s going on, and a lot of changes hit throughout, from Darkseid defeating Highfather to Scott’s injuries healing quickly and being drawn into the larger fight. A lot of this spends its time getting us familiar with King’s interpretations of the characters, with Barda and Orion and nods to others from the League that checked up on him. A lot of it serves to show us Scott’s mental state and how he’s grappling with what that trap did to him as he’s almost in a fog, but just at the edge of it, while still reeling from the effects of it.
In Summary:
Mister Miracle provides a lot of tantalizing possibilities here with its opening issue and I’m excited to see where it’s all going to go. It’s open to so many different directions and has so many characters that it can draw on that trying to guess just isn’t going to be fun, and I want to simply experience each issue as it arrives. King and Gerads have put together a fantastic first issue here that really gives us a great look at all the different forms and faces that Scott Free has worn over the years and those that are important to him. The uncertainty of how firm the ground is that we’re standing on only adds to the excitement because it can shift in so many ways. There’s a lot to like here and it’s a strong start for what may be a fantastic ride.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 17+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: August 9th, 2017
MSRP: $3.99